by Ian Marshall, Editor
However, in the Hungarian capital city, of all the Japanese players on duty in the women’s singles event, the no.6 seed, she has drawn the short straw.
She appears in the same quarter of the draw as China’s Wang Manyu, the no.3 seed but it is the quite possible second round meeting against the latter’s colleague, Sun Yingsha, the no.24 seed that attracts the attention. Unquestionably, the Chinese coaches will have done their homework on all the Chinese players, especially Mima Ito; moreover, look back to last year, the Buenos Aires Youth Olympic Games; in both the women’s team and mixed team events, Sun Yingsha beat Miu Hirano.
Similarly, for Miu Hirano, the no.8 seed, there is potential intriguing round fourth round contest; she could well meet Romania’s Bernadette Szocs, the no.14 seed and 2018 CCB Europe Top 16 Cup winner.
A testing encounter for both players but the next round could be even more testing; more likely than not, China’s Ding Ning, the top seed and defending champion awaits. Negotiate that round and the potential adversary is the latter’s colleague, Liu Shiwen, the no.4 seed. She appears in the same quarter of the draw as Chinese Taipei’s Cheng I-Ching, the no.7 seed.
Meanwhile, Kasumi Ishikawa, Japan’s leading lady, she is in the same quarter of the draw as China’s Chen Meng, the no.2 seed; potential fourth round respective opponents are Hong Kong’s Doo Hoi Kem, the no.11 seed and Singapore’s Feng Tianwei, the no.9 seed,